System Director of Patient Advocacy at RWJBarnabas Health – West Orange, New Jersey

Job Title: Director

Location: SBC Corporation

Department Name: Patient Engagement

Req #: 0000240562

Status: Salaried

Shift: Day

Pay Range: $141,638.00 - $191,211.00 per year

Pay Transparency:

The above reflects the anticipated annual salary range for this position if hired to work in New Jersey.

The compensation offered to the candidate selected for the position will depend on several factors, including the candidate's educational background, skills and professional experience.

Job Overview:

The System Director of Patient Advocacy provides strategic leadership in establishing a comprehensive advocacy program that ensures all patient and family communications comply with Federal, State, and RWJBH regulations. As a collaborative healthcare professional, this leader serves as the lead architect for system-wide advocacy protocols, fostering family-centered communication and ensuring facility leaders meet all regulatory mandates regarding patient rights as well as adhere to applicable RWJBH associated policies and procedures, Beyond strategic design, the Senior Director oversees the operations of the RWJBH intake center, including hospital-based operators to maintain communication best practices.This leader co-leads the system structures governing the complaint and grievance process. This role will additionally be responsible for the design and implementation of education around patient advocacy. Reporting to the SVP, Chief Experience Officer, this role works across all levels of leadership to ensure patient advocacy initiatives remain strictly aligned with organizational goals.

Qualifications:

Required:

• Current Master’s degree in relevant field (Communications, Business, Health Administration) or equivalent years of experience in leading language services
• 7+ years of experience in leading patient advocacy teams, including call centers, with a progressive increase in leadership responsibility and scope
• Proficiency in analyzing performance metrics and applying data-driven insights
• Expert understanding of healthcare regulatory landscape
• Demonstrated project management and organizational skills in leading change across large complex academic healthcare institutions

Preferred:

• Certification in Patient Experience preferred

Essential Job Functions:

• Strategic Architecture & Design: Build and implement highly reliable enterprise-wide frameworks and data structures that standardize patient advocacy across multiple facilities
• Regulatory Compliance: Expertise in navigating complex Federal and State patient advocacy rights mandates while ensuring the organization remains compliant and audit-ready
• Interpersonal Communication: Demonstrated success in establishing family-centered communication protocols, including de-escalation of sensitive situations and mediation between clinical staff and patient families
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: A proven track record of influencing executive and facility-level leadership to align departmental actions with system-wide experience and advocacy goals
• Systems Thinking: The capacity to manage the 'big picture' of the grievance process, identifying and addressing recurring trends in data to drive systemic operational improvements
• Operational Governance: Experience overseeing diverse teams (such as hospital operators and intake center staff) to ensure consistency in practice, messaging and adherence to best evidence
• Crisis Management & Resolution: Demonstrate decisiveness under pressure regarding patient rights, ethical dilemmas, and formal grievances

Other Duties:

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Benefits and Perks:

At RWJBarnabas Health, our market-competitive Total Rewards package provides comprehensive benefits and resources to support our employees’ physical, emotional, social, and financial health.

• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Medical and Prescription Drug Insurance
• Dental and Vision Insurance
• Retirement Plans
• Short & Long Term Disability
• Life & Accidental Death Insurance
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Health Care/Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts
• Wellness Programs
• Voluntary Benefits (e.g., Pet Insurance)
• Discounts Through our Partners such as NJ Devils, NJ PAC, Verizon, and more!

Choosing RWJBarnabas Health!

RWJBarnabas Health is the premier health care destination providing patient-centered, high-quality academic medicine in a compassionate and equitable manner, while delivering a best-in-class work experience to every member of the team. We honor and appreciate the privilege of creating and sustaining healthier communities, one person and one community at a time. As the leading academic health system in New Jersey, we advance innovative strategies in high-quality patient care, education, and research to address both the clinical and social determinants of health.

RWJBarnabas Health aims to truly make a unique impact in local communities throughout New Jersey. From vastly improving the health of local residents to creating educational and career opportunities, this combination greatly benefits the state. We understand the growing and evolving needs of residents in New Jersey—whether that be enhancing the coordination for treating complex health conditions or improving community health through local programs and education.

Equal Opportunity Employer